Justice Reform

For far too long, politicians have passed bad laws in an effort to appear "tough on crime." But these laws have come with a heavy toll. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and our prison system is struggling to keep up. These policies have also have torn families apart.
It's fiscally and morally imperative to advance meaningful and responsible justice reforms that will ease burdens on taxpayers and give nonviolent offenders the opportunity to become productive citizens.

Hold Congress Accountable

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On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to co-sponsor the Safe, Accountable, Fair, Effective (SAFE) Justice Act, H.R. 4261, introduced by Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Jason Lewis (R-Minn.). The bill would focus resources on violent and career offenders, implement evidence-based programs to reduce recidivism, restore congressional intent to certain mandatory minimum sentences, and address over-criminalization in federal criminal statutes and regulations and over-federalization of criminal law.

Imagine living in a country where transporting property from one place to another could result in your property being seized by the government. The process of civil asset forfeiture makes it so the mere suspicion of a crime is enough for law enforcement officials to take and keep possessions. Law enforcement officials in this are able to keep a portion of the assets that they confiscate so the system is frequently abused.

The movement to pass measures of criminal justice reform in Washington has sprung to life in the 115th Congress in recent days. In the Senate, conservative champions of the issue have reintroduced legislation that has garnered bipartisan support in past Congresses.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to support the Mens Rea Reform Act, S. 1902, introduced by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), David Perdue (R-Ga.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.). The bill would address over-criminalization at the federal level, setting a default intent standard for all federal criminal laws and regulations currently lacking mens rea protections. The proposed default intent standard would require the government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted willfully in order to obtain a conviction.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to support the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, S. 1917, introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The bill would address overincarceration concerns in the United States federal prison system, where nearly half of prisoners are serving sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, and many of those for first-time offenses.

Hot dogs are becoming the unlikely symbol for overcriminalization in the United States of America. More specifically, the heavily codified permit system which profits the state and harms small business owners. On September 9th of this year a man was selling hot dogs on the street in Berkeley without a permit when campus authorities approached him and took money straight from the vendor’s wallet. While law enforcement said that the money was evidence, the action is representative of the larger issue at hand.

The House of Representatives will consider the Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, H.R. 3354. The bill consolidates the eight remaining appropriations measures for FY 2018, including Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD). The House has already passed one consolidated appropriations bill, H.R. 3219, which authorized spending for the Department of Defense, the legislative branch, the military and veterans affairs, and energy and water.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to support the New Hope and Opportunity through the Power of Employment (HOPE) Act, H.R. 2155, introduced by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.). The bill would incentivize states to reform occupational licensing laws that limit competition in the marketplace.